As I walked onto the beach yesterday morning the two Pointer Stars to the Southern Cross were visible and a delight to see (see my photo below). As I was pondering Pentecost and looking at these beautiful, distant and mysterious stars pointing to that image we all know well, the Southern Cross, I found myself asking the question: What does the Spirit point to? As I thought about this the answer was, EVERYTHING.
The Pointers are just visible in the centre of the photo.
Many of us seem to think the Spirit did not arrive until Jesus. Religions have a tendency to often claim the sole favour of the Spirit - something some people have and others do not, something individual that flits in and out of our lives at will. This is a gross misinterpretation and a wrong understanding of the Spirit. The Spirit has been WITH US since the beginning of time – since the Big Bang if you like. There was never, is never, and will never be a time where the Spirit is not Present to EVERYTHING and in EVERYHTING RIGHT NOW. The Spirit simply IS. If there is no Spirit, there is no creation, no cosmos, no us. The Spirit is constantly Breathing Life Energy into everything and was doing so before Jesus, even before time began.
Jesus’ death does not enable to Spirit to come, as many of us seem to think. Jesus’ Life and death reveal to us the Eternal Spirit that has always been Present. In and through Jesus’ Life and death there is a new CONSCIOUSNESS of what has always been, but we were/are too blind to see it. It is our CONSCIOUSNESS, through looking at Jesus, revealing who we ALL truly are and who we continue to become – Spirit of Love.
Then a further question: Being the CONSCIOUSNESS of the Spirit of Love and being filled with Spirit ourselves; What do our lives POINT to? It is an important question for us all to consider. Another way to put this question might be; what do our lives and the way we choose to live our lives, reveal to our loved ones, our friends and our wider community about who we are and who we all are?
I am currently reading a book called ‘Upheaval’ by Jared Diamond. It explores seven countries and ‘how nations cope with crisis and change’. It explores Finland, Japan, Chile, and Indonesia, Germany, Australia and US. It is frightening the sadistic cruelty, sheer horror and manipulation we human beings are capable of inflicting upon each other, and just how corrupt and evil so many of us are and have been in our world. WHAT DO OUR LIVES POINT TO? What do we close our eyes and hearts to as world citizens amidst evil?
This morning I read this headline of an article by Daniel P Horan in National Catholic Reporter (I have yet to read the article): ‘If COVID-19 frightens you, you should be terrified by climate change.’ Again, because many of us may not YET experience the real impact of climate change directly, we can easily dismiss it, especially if it means it is going to ‘cost’ us something, be it in dollars or making real change to the way we choose to live our lives. The Spirit Breathes in, through and with the whole cosmos and to ignore this Truth or bury our heads and hearts, is to partake in an evil with consequences beyond our comprehension. WHAT DO OUR LIVES POINT TO? Do our lives reflect a care and Love of the Earth and EVERYTHING UPON HER?
All of us have been shocked at the circumstances surrounding the death of Anne Marie Smith here in Adelaide, who was disabled and highly vulnerable and died a shockingly cruel death in her own home, through the horrendous neglect and whatever else, of those who were supposed to be caring for her. This happened/s within our neighbourhoods under the noses of us all. To claim we did not know, just isn’t good enough. It is the Spirit Business of us all how we care for and treat our most vulnerable within our communities. It is our Spirit Business to KNOW and to care. It is our Spirit Business to expose laws, attitudes, regulations etc. that hide or neglect our most vulnerable. WHAT DO OUR LIVES POINT TO?
Today (Sunday) is Pentecost. It is a celebration of our CONSCIOUSNESS OF THE SPIRIT ALIVE WITHIN EVERYTHING. It is a celebration of our AWAKENING. When we awake into this Spirit Consciousness and a consciousness of who we ALL ARE, we will be ‘filled with joy….’ We will also know the truth of the words: ‘As the Spirit of God sent me, so am I sending you.’ Within this AWAKENING, we cannot hide behind our ignorance of the Spirit. We can no longer seek our own personal comfort and pleasures at the expense and suffering of those around us. We can no longer live our individualistic life styles that place heavy demands and burdens upon our Earth and all that live upon Her. Within this CONSCIOUSNESS, we come to know we are intimately part of EVERYTHING – when one part of that EVERYTHING SUFFERS, then we all suffer.
Pentecost is nothing less than this cosmic AWAKENING TO THE SPIRIT alive within all of us and everything.
WHAT DOES MY LIFE POINT TO? WHAT DOES YOUR LIFE POINT TO?
©Annemarie Reiner